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What Customers Should Hear When They Call You

Think back to the last time you called the customer service number for a major brand. Most likely, the first thing you heard wasn’t a human being with a chipper voice asking how he could help you. Most likely, you were greeted by a pre-recorded voice that was designed to collect some relevant information about your call and transfer you to the right department.

Auto attendants have made life easier for big call centers because they can take more calls and solve problems more efficiently. But if your company decides to invest in a cloud call center that includes an auto attendant feature, you need to make sure that your attendant is actually helping your customers and not leaving them frustrated.

Following are a few tips for setting up an auto attendant so that your customers get the best possible service.

Ask the Right Questions

One key reason to use an auto attendant is so that customers are not bounced around from agent to agent looking for a department that can address their problem. A good attendant can discern whether someone has a billing issue, a product inquiry or a complaint — but only if the system asks the right questions. Set up your auto attendant so that it asks the questions that will get the caller to the right place as quickly as possible.

Convey Humanity

While the auto attendant for your cloud call center will never take the place of human interaction, it is important you do not forget the pleasantries of a human exchange when setting it up. Your auto attendant should be able to greet callers, use “please” and “thank you” and convey a sense of politeness in its interactions with your customers.

Listening Skills Count

The term auto attendant can refer to two different types of systems. Older versions of the auto attendant read through a list of options and let callers press a button on their phone to be transferred to an extension or a department. Newer auto attendants feature Interactive Voice Response (IVR) which allows callers to speak to the attendant, which recognizes words and sounds and transfers calls accordingly. Although IVR can be quite effective in many instances, it’s important to choose a system that is able to adequately understand callers. Further, giving callers the option to use their keypad rather than the IVR system can be a good feature for those that prefer not to speak to automated systems.

You’ll Never Make Everyone Happy

Even if you follow every best practice for your auto attendant and it works flawlessly, the fact is that there are still going to be customers who resent speaking to a ‘robot’ no matter what. It is important that your customer service agents are ready to handle those callers who do not want to give any details to your auto attendant and would rather speak to a human being immediately. An auto attendant does not take the place of good customer service training, which should remain a priority.

When your customers call your company, they should immediately know that they have reached the right place and that their issue will be taken care of quickly. An auto attendant can be an asset in this quest, as long as you take the time to choose the right system and set it up with your customers in mind.